The (Possibly) Post-No Child Left Behind Presidency
Not so long ago but at a moment whose goodwill seems far away, President George Bush signed No Child Left Behind, the bill that still guides U.S. spending on public education.
NCLB updated existing law (the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) to give unprecedented authority to the federal government in reversing decades of school failure, yet was supported by bipartisan majorities in Congress—startling majorities from today’s perspective: 91-8 in the Senate and 384-45 in the House.
The bill’s signing in January 2002 (and the long negotiations leading up to it) seems far away not just because the nation’s lawmakers decided to problem-solve rather than filibuster, and not just because the aim of their cooperation was expanding federal power.
Also different was the belief that fixing education is essential to our social and economic health, and that leading the country requires summoning the political will to tackle this vast problem.
Another election season has begun and our task now needs to be re-establishing the primacy of education in the campaign conversation. Not because NCLB has been a silver bullet (they don’t exist) but because this country needs its leaders and best minds to reach new solutions or we risk losing another generation of poor and high-need children.
That’s where The Seventy Four comes in.
It is often said that education is the “civil rights issue of our time.” As campaign season moves forward, it may be more accurate to think of it as the most important issue of our time.
On August 19, we will partner with the American Federation of Children in hosting the first of two 2015 National Education Summits, bringing Republican presidential candidates to Manchester, New Hampshire, to discuss the challenges facing public education.
Confirmed speakers include Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, and Scott Walker. (Registration information is here. More here on each candidate’s views.)
In October, partnering with the Des Moines Register, we will have a similar dialogue in Iowa with the Democratic candidates.
The timing could not be more important or fraught, with issues like the Common Core standards, how to improve and reward teaching, and potential revisions of ESEA to reduce federal influence dividing lawmakers and advocates and reflecting frustration on the ground about what schools should look like.
Nor has there not been a reconsideration of the White House’s role in education in at least 15 years. President Obama’s pro-NCLB reform views built on his predecessor’s and were not appreciably different from the moderate Republicans he ran against.
The latest ESEA re-authorization effort is closer to being passed than any previous attempt, however, and that effort will likely include a shift back to state-based accountability. Heading the 2016 primary season and beyond, the core competency of any presidential hopeful must include the ability to articulate a vision of the chief executive’s role in educational change—and possibly with diminished powers.
Presidential hopefuls who favor reduced executive authority will need to explain The (Possibly) Post-No Child Left Behind Presidency - The Daily Beast:
